The third week of January 2024 was a little scary for parents, school staff, and students of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. Threats were emailed and called into many different schools on more than one day, but they all seemed to be pranks, but law enforcement still responded.
According to a post on their Facebook page, at about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, Savage School, along with several other school districts across Montana, received an email stating that bombs had been placed in school locations throughout the state. The school was thoroughly searched by law enforcement and cleared.
In a post on the Fairview Schools Districts 13 & 3 Facebook page, they were assured that the Fairview schools were not the target.
In a post on Sidney Public School District’s Facebook page, a letter by Brent Sukut, Sidney Public Schools superintendent, said when they received the threatening emails, they were immediately reported. It was determined that the emails were essentially spam and there was no threat.
In North Dakota, according to a press release on the Watford City Police Department Facebook page, Thursday, Jan. 18 at about 1:17 p.m. they received a call from a staff member of Badlands Elementary that they had gotten a call that there was an unknown individual standing outside of the school building with a firearm. The police and sheriff departments sent officers to the school. All McKenzie County School buildings were put in lockdown almost immediately after the call. While the officers were still in the process of securing the building they received a call from North Dakota State Radio that multiple schools across the state of North Dakota had received the same call. After a little more investigation, it was found that the call was a hoax and all schools were released from lockdown. According to Alexander Public School Facebook page they had not received a call.
Making threats to schools is against the law. In the state of Montana, according to the state legal code website, leg.mt.gov, it could land a prankster in the state prison for up to 10 years or with a hefty fine of up to $50K. In North Dakota, according to the state’s legal code website, http://www.ndlegis.gov, the prankster could be imprisoned for up to five years or fined up to $10K.
Reader Comments(0)